In our tasting today Wine-Searcher's Wine Director, David Allen MW, tastes a Chardonnay from an estate in New Zealand which he feels is rather underrated, Isabel Estate. The wine in question is the 2019 vintage of Isabel Estate Marlborough Chardonnay.
Located in the Wairau Valley in New Zealand's Marlborough, Isabel Estate is one of the original Marlborough vineyards with some of the oldest vines in Marlborough on original rootstock. The estate occupies 54 hectares with 45 of those are planted with vines. The estate is just outside the village of Renwick at the heart of the Marlborough region. The site benefits from all Marlborough's climate characteristics such as extended sunshine hours and a long, cool growing season. Its soils are free-draining gravels with a narrow layer of tight clay in the subsoil that prevents excess water loss. This is one of the drier areas of Marlborough where annual rainfall can be as little as 600mm. The Omaka River flows along the southern boundary of the vineyard. This section of vines produces fruit with a different level of intensity and complexity.
Mike Tiller discovered the land - a unique area that even on the coldest of mornings was frost-free, with fertile soil and a unique aspect. It attracted his attention every time he passed overhead on his flight path to Blenheim Airport. Mike and his wife Robyn bought the land in 1980 and set out to create a wine estate on the site. They named it in honor of his mother, Isabel. Their aim was to produce ultra-premium Marlborough+ wines. Throughout the 1980s the couple planted key noble varieties Chardonnay followed by Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Isabel Estate released its first estate wine, a Pinot Noir in 1994.
Densely planted vines planted at half the usual spacing used in Marlborough further contributes to the concentration the fruit. Narrow rows and closer planting increases competition giving smaller bunches and berries with more flavour and complexity. The estate restricts yields by pruning to low bud numbers and when necessary employs shoot and bunch thinning.
Isabel Estate is estate-grown, estate-made and estate-bottled giving full quality control of the process from grape to bottle. There is a focus on small-batch winemaking. Lots of small tanks allow the fermentation of blocks and clones from within the vineyard separately, so giving more options at blending, to help create complex wines. To this end they also use indigenous fermentation across our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Isabel Estate is currently in conversion to organic viticulture. They currently have 15 hectares of vineyards that are certified organic by bio-grow. The estate was already being farmed sustainably and their composting program comprise a significant part of these practices. It involves the post-pressing skins being incorporated into a compost starter mix to which they apply a microbial culture to induce its anaerobic conversion into compost. They then apply it back on the vineyards.
they practice dry farming techniques. The process encourages the 30-year-old roots to seek out the deep clay soil where the vines utilize naturally available moisture, removing the need for supplement irrigation. Spraying can be kept to minimum because of the region's cool, dry climate.
To find out more about this wine, its pricing and to learn where to by it follow this link to the Wine-Searcher website: www.wine-searcher.com/find/is...
#winesearcher #winetasting #whitewine #chardonnay #marborough #masterofwine #winelovers #newzealandwine #marlboroughchardonnay #isabelestate